This is an opinion column.

It’s hard to think of anything more repulsively ironic than the University of Alabama selling its Southern soul to a private equity firm from New York in the name of college football.

Maybe the Saudis would be worse, but only because I hear they’re big Texas A&M fans.

The tipping point is here for college football, and I’m not talking about the 12-team playoff or whether the guy who came after Nick Saban at Alabama leaves for Michigan or sticks around.

It’s the private equity question.

Sell a piece of the SEC, or lose players to teams up north.

I know where I stand, and it’s not my job to be politically correct. If the Big Ten decides to partner with private equity firms in order to pay players, then the SEC should completely remove itself from the NCAA and start its own athletic association.

Yes, I’m talking about full-on secession.

Any like-minded school in the country can join the SEC’s breakaway faction. Michigan, for example, or Southern Cal, both of which have already decided that allowing the Big Ten to sell part of the business to an outside firm is a terrible idea.

The Big Ten’s War of Northern Aggression continues to gather strength, though, and the battlefield is growing.

Of all places, Big 12 member Utah fired the first shots of what will surely be college football’s next national conflict.

To keep up with their friends down the valley at BYU, the University of Utah has made the decision to partner with a private-equity firm out of New York in exchange for $500 million. It’s a complicated deal, or so they say, and it’s only a minority stake in branding and ticket sales. To these ears, though, it all sounds like famous last words.

I’m not going to get bogged down in the weeds with the details in this column. In the end, I’m guessing none of that’s going to matter. In simple terms, Utah is selling a percentage of its football team to an outside investor for a big cash infusion.

Why? They say it’s to balance the books, but that’s not the real truth. Not the way I see it, anyway.

Utah was the first in the country to take the private-equity plunge not out of absolute necessity, but because Utah wants more money to pay players so it can win football and basketball games against rival BYU.

That’s it.

This all about beating a well-heeled rival.

How does something in Utah affect the SEC?

Consider it like an earthquake deep out in the ocean.

You don’t feel it at first. In the beginning, only the nerds and a few big fish even know it happened.

But when the sea floor cracks, it pushes the water upwards and the wave begins its long journey to the shore.

Private equity is the rising tsunami, and it’s coming for college sports.

What does that mean for the SEC? No one can predict the future, but I don’t like where all this seems to be going and neither will college football fans in the Deep South. It might not be time to run for the hills just yet, but hopefully SEC commissioner Greg Sankey knows the path to high ground.

I’m I overreacting? Why am I so concerned about Utah’s private-equity deal?

I might not be a financial expert, but I know this for a fact about college football. The perpetual arms race is part of the game, and it will never stop. With no guardrails like the NFL, on and on and on it will go.

Private equity is just another step in the direction of a place college football doesn’t want to be.

Who can build the biggest stadium? Who can have the slickest locker room? Who can give players Lamborghinis instead of Dodge Chargers? Who can pay $6 million for the next big quarterback transfer instead of only a measly $3 million?

And who’s going to be on the hook for all that cash?

College football is a sound investment for private equity because fans love this game like a religion. In the Deep South, it’s not just a game. It’s part of the cultural fabric.

Fans will always pay.

How much is that worth to an investment group in New York?

Let’s not kid ourselves. The firm Otro Capital isn’t buying into Utah athletics to help the Utes keep the swimming teams afloat. By buying into Utah, Otro is investing in college football at large.

It’s getting a cut of the Utes’ rivalry with BYU.

It’s betting on the idea that Utah might one day have a chance to host a team like Alabama in a playoff game.

The guys in New York would love that, but their fantasy is owning a piece of the Crimson Tide, too.

Private equity isn’t just buying into Utah with this deal. This is only how it starts. It’s a play for the whole thing, and the SEC is the biggest asset of all.

So many questions, but here’s the biggest.

When the Big Ten starts buying all of the SEC’s best players, what’s Greg Sankey going to do?

He needs to at least learn how to swim, but before the tsunami hits I’d much rather him transform into a shark.

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